Liz kendall

It seems ‘Taliban New Labour‘ have returned, or at least that’s what some party members would have you believe. Labour MP John Woodcock — who is backing Liz Kendall — has risked the wrath of his party with a blog post about the Labour leadership contest: ‘If those who seek to take his place think the route to victory in the leadership contest is Continuity Miliband with a different accent or gender, or with a higher level of emotional connection, they will consign Labour to another defeat.’ Are these 41 words in anyway controversial? Woodcock doesn’t think so, but the blog post has upset the Labour leadership apple cart. Apparently we are seeing the

Alan Milburn has told Labour something it does not want to hear: Tony Blair was as great for the party as Margaret Thatcher was for the Tories. At a breakfast with the Centre for Social Justice this morning, the former health secretary argued that  Labour ‘could not have got it more wrong’ at the last election and urged the party to snap out of its ‘self-delusion’ that New Labour and Blair were all bad: ‘Great leaders always have a big purpose. For Churchill it was victory in war, for Thatcher victory against a stifling state. For Blair it was victory against old-fashioned attitudes and institutions that held our country back. Today, to

The most revealing moment in the Labour debate last night came when a questioner asked ‘what qualities do you share with Nicola Sturgeon that could make you as successful as a party leader?’ The unctuous manner in which the question was delivered suggested that being an English Sturgeon was a fine thing to be. No Labour member would think of asking ‘what qualities do you share with David Cameron that could make you as successful as a party leader’ — even though Cameron has just won a majority against the predictions of everyone —including himself. The unctuous manner in which the men and women who would lead the Labour Party

The first televised debate in the Labour leadership contest was a rather dull affair. None of the candidates shone and no one stumbled. Although there were a few moments of interest, everyone conformed to their stereotypes. Andy Burnham was brash and appeared too keen to speak over the other candidates. He spoke about the problems of the ‘Westminster elite’ and how Labour needs to break free from that mould — despite having worked in politics his whole career and even spending time as a special adviser before becoming an MP. Yvette Cooper was the best performer and gave a good response to the question on the welfare state, citing her

I daresay some of you lot are amusing yourselves by joining the Labour Party for three quid so as to vote for Jeremy Corbyn in the forthcoming leadership election. Can’t say I blame you – it would be a hoot to watch. That being said, he is not the worst candidate on the list. At least Corbyn has a critique of why Labour lost. A wrong critique, I think – just as it was wrong when Tony Benn said the same stuff after the 1983 disaster. But a critique at least (and Corbyn, when he doesn’t mention the IRA, can be a fairly agreeable chap). No – the thing is,

The Labour leadership contest is in full swing, with Labour MPs announcing who will they be backing to be the next leader. Under new rules, each candidate requires the backing of 35 MPs to make it into the ballot paper. Four candidates have made it onto the ballot paper: The candidates MPs backing Bookies’ odds YouGov poll Andy Burnham 68 (on the ballot) 4/5 10% Yvette Cooper 59 (on the ballot) 11/4 4% Liz Kendall 41 (on the ballot) 3/1 7% Jeremy Corbyn 36 (on the ballot) 25/1  4% Who’s backing who Andy Burnham Yvette Cooper Liz Kendall Jeremy Corbyn Mary Creagh (dropped out) Unknown Alan Meale Adrian Bailey Alison McGovern Andrew Smith

Mary Creagh has announced she is withdrawing from the Labour leadership contest. The shadow international development secretary has explained in tomorrow’s Guardian that she is quitting the race but won’t be backing another candidate. Given that Creagh had just seven MPs openly backing her — with only a rumoured handful still in the shadows — it was increasingly clear over the last week that she wouldn’t get the 35 names she needs to get on the ballot paper. Creagh has used her spot in the Guardian to attack Ed Miliband’s leadership. She says Labour was too anti-business under him and that this approach must be reversed if the party is to have any chance of making it back into power. Creagh cites an incident during her

Patrick Wintour is one of the best political editors around. For the Guardian he’s been for decades a cool and well-sourced voice: even-handed, informed, interesting but in the best sense dry. So when I heard he’d written the most comprehensive behind-the-scenes account yet of Labour’s failed general election campaign I hurried to read it. I was not disappointed. ‘The undoing of Ed Miliband, and how Labour lost the election’ is an insider account of a chapter of accidents, starting with Mr Miliband’s memory lapse about the deficit during Labour’s last party conference. Apparently he shut himself in his hotel room afterwards and wouldn’t come out. The story takes us through to

Liz Kendall is now on the ballot for Labour leader, thanks to the support of Gloria de Piero. The shadow minister for women and Ashfield MP has announced her support for Kendall in tomorrow’s Daily Mirror. As another shadow cabinet minister backing Kendall, it’s a good boost for her campaign on the eve of the nominations opening. Similarly to Kendall, de Piero believes Labour needs radical change: ‘We need someone from the new generation of Labour MPs to be making the case for change in the Labour Party. Liz is asking the really tough questions that we need to ask. She’s recognised the scale of the defeat, that we lost and lost

Liz Kendall’s turn on the Andrew Marr sofa was slightly shaky and vague on details. She continued on the theme of being the ‘change everything’ candidate but failed on clarify what she would do differently to the Tories and her fellow leadership candidates. When asked by Marr if she was the candidate Yvette Cooper suggested had ‘swallowed’ the Tory manifesto, Kendall noted the level of change Labour needs: ‘The only thing I’ve swallowed is the sheer scale of the defeat that we faced at the election and the huge changes we need to win again. People didn’t trust us with their money or on the economy and we didn’t set out a positive enough vision

The Fabian Society hosted a hustings for the Labour leadership this afternoon, featuring all five of the declared candidates: Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall, Mary Creagh and Jeremy Corbyn. Following the Progress event a few weeks ago, this is the second time four of these candidates have appeared onstage together — Corbyn only entered the race a few days ago. Fabian supporters tend to be well disposed towards Ed Miliband so unsurprisingly, the reactions favoured the more left wing sentiments. As the current favourite to win, Andy Burnham has the highest expectations to meet and his turn today suggests he remains the firm favourite — especially if the line for

The Labour leadership contest will heat up in the next few days. Tomorrow, the Fabian Society will host a hustings with all of the declared candidates. Liz Kendall is set for a grilling on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday. On Monday, all of the candidates will address the Parliamentary Labour Party before heading to Dublin for the GMB union’s annual conference. And at noon on Tuesday, the nomination process officially begins. Each of the candidates has something to prove over the next few days. Andy Burnham needs to demonstrate whether he is standing as a reformed Blairite or a Miliband-esque defender of public services. Yvette Cooper needs to prove she has